Juror Alain Picard’s Comments on the 2020 Members Show Award Winners

I am honored and delighted to have served as Juror of Awards for the Vermont Pastel Society’s inaugural Members Only Online Show. I’d like to share a few comments regarding how I select award winners before talking about each of the top winners specifically. There are four categories of consideration that I use to evaluate the work.

First off, I look at The Fundamentals.  This is the skillful deployment of color, composition, drawing, proportions, perspective, tonal values, and edge quality. These are the foundational elements of the painting. Have they been executed with skill and mastery?

Next I consider  The Medium.  This is the skillful handling of pastel. The mark-making, surface effects, and creative techniques that are used in the application of soft pastel in all its various approaches.

Moving on from there, I consider  The Artist . Is there a unique point of view in the painting? Can I identify a clear artistic voice speaking through the work? Does the artist use poetic expression in the handling of the medium? Is there a strong concept and a clear intention being delivered? These qualities of the artist are powerful influencers in the resulting painting.

Finally, I consider  The Art . This is that intangible resonance of the work. It’s the painting’s ability to impact the viewer, reach in and stir something inside of you. There is a power in a painting that somehow gets unlocked through the passion of the artist, and it takes on a life of it’s own. This is one reason why great art lives on for generations, why we are moved when we enter a museum and behold a work from generations past as it speaks to us today. I’m searching for this resonant power in the painting.

All four of these categories—the Fundamentals, the Medium, the Artist and the Art—are considered in making decisions as Juror of Awards. Now to the Award winners.

BEST IN SHOW

Last Light  by Patti Braun

Last Light received best in show. As I view this elegant landscape, the design, color harmony, mood and atmosphere all coalesce to create a moment in time that connects with the heart and speaks to the soul. I can feel the air hovering over the mountains and the warm late day light as it moves up the tree line until it’s gone. This wonderful celebration of nature reveals the artist’s admiration for and connection with the scene. I admire in particular the use of color deployed to convey emotion and atmosphere. We feel the moment, and we are rewarded greatly.

Second place went to Tractor Study #5. This piece is a truly unique vantage point on the art of abstraction. Rooted in direct observation of an antique tractor, the artist has transformed the surface environment of this machine into a technicolor delight of texture, light and shadow. Ultimately, it is the compositional drama, created through the play of light and shadow on the surface and conveyed with highly chromatic hues, that won me over. No one else has observed a tractor in such a unique way and shared their unique artistic vision with such joy and celebration.

Nearing Twilight took 3 ^rd  place in this exhibition. The sky in this subtle and restful landscape is painted with such elegant restraint that it creates a sensory experience for the viewer. The depth of atmosphere is felt as much as seen through control of value and edge as well as the unity of color harmony. The soft light dances across the grass and rides over the clouds through sublimely rendered color. The moon is now in view, such a tender and skillful touch revealing thousands of miles of atmosphere and space between the viewer and this lunar sighting. What a beautiful scene, and a sense of place the artist has created for us here.

Pure joy. That is the direct emotion I encountered when setting eyes on this painting entitled, The Blues. It’s a clever composition that emphasizes energetic diagonals to evoke a musical celebration of the genre. The artist has captured a feeling of music so well. I can’t as much hear the sounds as I can feel them resonating in my body in cadence with the fingers of the musician’s hand. That’s what makes this painting more than a portrait of a man or a description of a jazz player. It is a true visceral expression of joy.

A History of Baseball #3 is a narrative still life painting that sensitively and lovingly observes articles of our national past time. The surface effect of the leather gloves, well-worn and aged, is treated with great care. The color and value of aged and crackled leather depicted with wonderful grace. I enjoy experiencing the meandering line created by the outside edges of the gloves as you travel from one old soul to the next. What a special homage to the game of baseball, and to the art of pastel.

QUARTERLY QUOTE

An empty canvas is the safest addiction in the world; art is the only drug that won’t kill you, instead it’ll save your life.

Nikki Rowe

 Our first Online Juried Show will be accepting submissions October 1-31, 2020.

• Regional hubs are still in need of innovation for activities.
• Workshop planning is continuing for 2021.
• Our upcoming Board Meeting will be on Zoom on Wednesday, October 7, 2020, and our Annual Members’ Meeting is scheduled for Saturday, October 17, 2020, also remotely.

 Continue reading below for more details.

CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS:

October 1-31, 2020: Entry into the Online Juried Show via ShowSubmit.

October 7, 2020: VPS Board Meeting 7- 9pm via Zoom

October 17, 2020: VPS Annual Members’ Meeting 1- 4pm via Zoom

VPS REGIONAL HUBS UPDATE

It’s not surprising, with continued physical distancing and many of us not comfortable being inside closed spaces, that most in-person hub activities have not been happening since February or March. VPS SouthWest continues to meet via the Zoom app. VPS Midstate got together again this fall, but we haven’t heard from the other hubs. With summer coming to a close and fall arriving, there may be time to get together for outdoor events, which are safer. Please let Judy Albright know of your activities as we want to continue the connection with our artistic communities, especially during these isolating times.

VPS EXHIBITIONS

Our first ever Online Juried Show is happening—entries are being received through the ShowSubmit app from October 1-31, 2020. The entries will be looked at by two jurors—Lyn Asselta and Jeanne Rosier Smith—much like our live shows were juried. They will score the pastels we submit, and from their scores, 30-40 pastels will be chosen to be in the show. Then our judge, Alain Picard, will look at those paintings to pick winners in first, second, third places with three runners-up. All that will happen in mid November, right before the show goes online for the public from November 24, 2020, through January 31, 2021. We hope that everyone will enter one or two pastels. There is an entry fee to cover the costs of ShowSubmit and the jurors and judge, but the commission originally listed in the prospectus has been removed. You receive full price if your painting sells. We hope to promote the show to the other IAPS member societies to get a wider viewing audience.

VPS WORKSHOPS

Let’s keep our hopes high that we will have workshops this year! So far, the following are in the planning stages:

Lyn Asselta workshop will be Apr 30, May 1 and May 2, 2021 in Bennington.

Dawn Emerson workshop is planned for Oct 23-25, 2021 in Bennington.

BOARD NEWS

We had a vote recently on bylaws changes allowing us to hold remote meetings via apps like Zoom, which means we can have board meetings and our annual members’ meeting online. We are having our next board meeting Thursday, October 7 from 7- 9pm. Here is the zoom link Please join us if you can.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88516259072?pwd=cnFVWEd1Q1VkdFA2RmNzU1h0WU53Zz09

Our annual members’ meeting will be October 17, 2020 from 1- 4pm via Zoom. We will be electing new board members, as each year 5 of the 10 members’ 2-year terms are up, so we need your votes! We will be sending an agenda and Zoom link closer to the date.

Remember, as a VPS member, you can show a painting on the VPS website with a link to another image and a short bio. If you want to do this for the first time, or if you want your image changed in the VPS Website Gallery, please use this link: https://vermontpastelsociety.com/participation-in-the-members-gallery/.

Don’t forget that you can also rent DVDs for free as a member. The information is on our website.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED PARTICIPATION IN VPS!

Even with our world being turned upside down, we are who we are because of the undying support for our organization that you all provide. Keep it coming, as you keep on painting in pastel!

Matt Peake, VPS President

QUARTERLY QUOTE

Art is a step in the known toward the unknown.

Kahlil Gibran

•  Our Members Exhibition finally came down.
• Regional hubs are in need of innovation for remote activities, using platforms like zoom.
• Workshop planning is continuing for 2021, as our workshops this year have been cancelled.
• Our Juried Show for November/December is being changed to an Online Show.

Continue reading below for more details.

CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS:

August 17-21, 2020:  Alain Picard workshops “The Painterly Landscape” and “The Painterly Portrait,” East Montpelier, both canceled, rescheduled date is pending.

October 2-4, 2020: Lyn Asselta workshop, North Bennington canceled, rescheduled for April 30-May 2, 2021

November-December 2020: VPS Juried Show will be Online

 VPS REGIONAL HUBS UPDATE

It’s not surprising, with physical distancing, that most in-person hub activities have not been happening since February or March. VPS SouthWest, which has been meeting regularly via zoom during the winter months, when many of their members are not in Vermont, continues to meet via this platform. VPS Midstate is planning to start up again in the fall, but I haven’t heard from the other hubs as to what they are planning for their activities, given the restrictions of physical distancing. Please let Judy Albright know of your activities as we want to continue the connection with our artistic communities especially during these isolating times.

VPS EXHIBITIONS

The coronavirus has really been a log jam in the river of VPS exhibitions this year and may continue to be so in the coming years. Our Members Exhibition was interrupted by the shutdown back in March, and although the exhibition remained in place for several more months, the takedown was complicated.

Some galleries and museums are now opening up, including SVAC, where we were going to have our juried show this November/December. But with the uncertainty of the times, the possibility for another wave of CoViD-19 coming, and the prospect of a complicated hanging and take down process, not to mention a limited reception, the board decided to make it an online show this year. Interestingly, other pastel societies are doing the same. Right now, Susannah is laying the groundwork for the 2020 VPS Juried Show to be online Nov/Dec 2020, our first—and maybe–first annual. Details will be coming soon and we hope to get many of your entries.

Susannah‘s grand plan for ongoing exhibitions is still in the works.  Depending on the coronavirus trajectory, however, it may not be able to be implemented in the coming year. The hope is that every year there will be two VPS shows–one, a Members Exhibition, and the other, a Juried Show. As we have six hub regions, that means that a hub will host one or the other of those exhibitions every three years. Further, we hope that each region would have a venue that could be depended upon every three years for that exhibition. Susannah has secured venues in some of the regions so far, but not in all. She does have SVAC committed to showing our work in May/June of 2021 if the situation is positive. Needless to say, we all need to stay tuned. For now, however, set your sights on the first VPS Online Juried Show this fall.

VPS WORKSHOPS

Unfortunately, the workshops that were planned this summer had to be canceled. The participants were divided as to wanting an online course versus an in-person one, and there was not a critical mass for either option to make it financially feasible to hold either of our two workshops. It is disappointing to have a workshop cancelled, especially to those who have been working so hard on plans so far in advance. This is one of those painful lessons of impermanence, but with the indefatigability of our VPS members, they assure me the workshops will happen again.

BOARD NEWS

Because we have an occasion for email meetings from time to time—and now even more of a need for remote meetings–we are working on a process to allow more streamlined voting for our members. Because this requires bylaw changes, we will need to put these changes to a vote of our membership, information for which I will be sending out soon. Given that we will most likely not be having an in-person membership meeting this year–and may have to do it via a zoom platform–these bylaw changes will be important to implement ahead of time. Please stay alert for Constant Contact mailings with regard to these bylaw changes.

The job of putting on two exhibitions per year has become less complicated, but it would be even easier if there were two or more people collaborating with Susannah on the many little jobs that need to be done. Most hubs have agreed to provide this assistance when a Juried Show or Members’ Exhibition comes to their area, which will happen every 3 years. The board thanks you!!

As a reminder, as a VPS member, you can show a painting on the VPS website and have it linked to another image and a short bio. So if you want to do this for the first time, or if you want your image changed in the VPS Website Gallery, please use this link: https://vermontpastelsociety.com/participation-in-the-members-gallery/.

Don’t forget that you can also rent DVDs for free as a member. The information is on our website.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED PARTICIPATION IN VPS!

Even during pandemic times, we are who we are because of the undying belief in our organization that you all provide. Keep it coming, as you keep on making pastel art!

Matt Peake, VPS President

QUARTERLY QUOTE
“The memories of influenza, it seems, are surreal, and to write them is seemingly to write nonsense or dreams or poetry. Perhaps this meant that even those who might vividly describe injuries to the body (like those caused by the war) would have found themselves incapable of representing to others the experience of having the flu.”

Catherine Belling, from The Spanish Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919: Perspectives from the Iberian Peninsula and the Americas (2014)

In the age of CoViD-19, the time of our pandemic, we have perhaps the same difficulty describing how it is affecting us, as people, let alone as artists. For us pastel painters, and our VPS, things have changed for now, and for the foreseeable future. For that reason, we can only hope for a resolution in the next several months, but until we know for sure, we must follow the guidance of those we trust, keeping ourselves, our families, and our friends and neighbors safe from the infection. And we must keep painting, if we can.

• Our Members Exhibition is still up until the pandemic is over.
• Regional hubs are in need of innovation for remote activities.
• Workshop planning continues, although we can’t be sure they will be held.
• We need an Exhibitions Co-Chair and …
• We have a new Secretary, Anne Taylor!

Continue reading below for more details.

CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS:
Thursday, January 16 to date uncertain, 2020: Members’ Exhibition, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, 4th floor

August 17-21, 2020: Alain Picard workshops “The Painterly Landscape” and “The Painterly Portrait,” East Montpelier

October 2-4, 2020: Lyn Asselta workshop, North Bennington

November-December 2020: VPS Juried Show, Southern Vermont Arts Center, Manchester, VT

VPS REGIONAL HUBS UPDATE
In the last quarter, just before the pandemic hit us, 5 of 6 hubs met once. One of those hubs, VPS: SouthWest, did it remotely via Zoom. VPS: Upper Valley hosted the monumental Joint Members Exhibition at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. With the recommendation to limit our contacts and stay in place, we will need innovative solutions to help us continue hub activities within the parameters of social distancing and restricting our travel to essential needs.

VPS EXHIBITIONS
Our Members Exhibition for 2020 featured a coordinated show of the Vermont Pastel Society with the Pastel Society of New Hampshire. Nearly 120 works from 60 artists lined the expansive medical center hallway where hundreds of people walked through to view them every month. Or did so until recently, when the corona virus pandemic struck New England. Now the show still hangs, and fewer viewers will be seeing it per month, but it remains in place indefinitely until the threat of infection is gone. Still, for those who helped receive the paintings, hang them, and attend the reception, this was an exhibition to remember—not only in scope and scale, but in the quality of the works on display. Thank you to VPS Upper Valley for making it happen, and thank you to Susannah Gravel for the fabulous idea of a combined show!

Our Juried Show will be in November 2020 at the Southern Vermont Arts Center, enough months away to be optimistic about it happening. We will be using a new on-line submission platform this year, ShowSubmit, which has a great reputation among many pastel societies in the US.

VPS WORKSHOPS
Alain Picard will offer a combination of workshops in East Montpelier, VT: The Painterly Landscape, August 17-19, 2020 and The Painterly Portrait, August 20-21, 2020. Artists can sign up for one or both. Details will follow. Given the late summer dates it is scheduled for, this workshop may still happen!

Lyn Asselta will offer a workshop October 2-4, 2020, at the Taraden Art Barn in North Bennington. Stay alert for details coming to you, and again, given the autumn dates that it is scheduled for, this workshop may also still happen!

BOARD NEWS
As you may recall, in December, we elected Mark Grasso, VPS: SouthWest, as our Vice President, and in January, we elected a new Secretary, Anne Taylor, from VPS: MidState. Thanks to the two of them for offering to serve on our VPS board, and to everyone who voted. Our board is once more complete!

But, before celebrating too soon, we need someone to volunteer to join Susannah Gravel as Exhibitions Co-Chair. The job of putting on two exhibitions per year has become less complicated, but it would be even easier if there were two people collaborating on the many little jobs that need to be done. Please contact your hub point person(s) if you are interested, and please consider it, as exhibitions are one of the offerings that encourage pastel artists to become members of VPS.

The Board will be holding its meeting on April 18, 2020, from 11a.m. to 1 p.m. via Zoom. Anyone may attend, so if you would like to do so remotely, contact Mark Grasso (mgrasso2@nycap.rr.com) who will be the Zoom host and can give you the link to join the meeting.

As a reminder, as a VPS member, you can show a painting on the VPS website and have it linked to another image and a short bio. So if you want to do this for the first time, or if you want your image changed in the VPS Website Gallery, please use this link: https://vermontpastelsociety.com/policies-procedures/.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED PARTICIPATION IN VPS!
We are who we are because of the passionate participation in our organization that you all provide. Keep it coming, as you keep on making pastel art!

Matt Peake, VPS President

QUARTERLY QUOTE
Why not spend time on art: painting, sculpting, charcoal, pastel, oils? Are words or numbers more important than images? Who decides this? Does algebra move you to tears? Can plural possessives express the feelings in your heart? If you don’t learn art now, you will never learn to breathe!
Laurie Halse Anderson

The Winter Solstice has signaled a return to longer days, with more hours of light for painting;
We have our Members’ Exhibition opening in a matter of days,
Regional hubs are continuing to thrive;
And we have a new Vice President.
Continue reading below for more details.

CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS:
Thursday, January 16, 2020, 5-6:30pm: Reception for the Members’ Exhibition of the VPS with the Pastel Society of NH, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, 4th floor main hallway.

VPS REGIONAL HUBS UPDATE
In the last quarter, 4 of 6 hubs have met once, and one hub has met twice. Many hubs are using a challenge-prompt, asking members to do, in the intervening time, an abstract painting, or painting a bold landscape on a black surface, or painting in color from a black and white reference. Many hubs are taking advantage of local venues to exhibit their pastels. As for using hub money, one hub paid a workshop presenter to come to them, and another hub used their money for purchasing tickets to MASSMoCA and The Clark, for a visit in early January.

VPS EXHIBITIONS
Our Members’ Exhibition (ME) for 2020 features something new: Susannah Colby, our Exhibitions Co-Chair, has coordinated this year’s exhibition with the Pastel Society of New Hampshire to make a really big show. We will be having about 120 works from 60 artists lining the expansive hallway in a large institution where hundreds of people will walk through to view them every month. As in our last ME, we will be awarding prizes in five genres (landscape, waterscape, still life, figurative, and abstract) and in five elements of composition (color, value, line, shape, and texture). Plus, the same two new categories will be kept: a Judge’s Choice and the People’s Choice. The judge this year, recommended by PSNH, will be Mary Eselin, a professional artist with gallery representation in several VT and NH galleries. Our goal for the ME has been to showcase the range of experience and diversity of pastel painting in our VPS, so the awards have tried to reflect that. Come see our VPS members’ works along with our neighbor pastel society’s paintings. You won’t be disappointed.

Our Juried Show will be in November 2020 at the Southern Vermont Arts Center.

VPS WORKSHOPS
Alain Picard will offer a combination of workshops in East Montpelier, VT: The Painterly Landscape, August 17-19, 2020 and The Painterly Portrait, August 20-21, 2020. Artists can sign up for one or both. Details will follow in February.

Lyn Asselta will offer a workshop October 2-4, 2020, at the Taraden Art Barn in North Bennington. Stay alert for details coming to you near the end of March.

BOARD NEWS
As you may recall, our board has 10 members who serve 2 year staggered terms. Every year, therefore, 5 members’ terms are up, and we hold elections, usually at the Annual Membership Meeting. This past November, at that meeting, Grace Cothalis, her Vice Presidential term up, wanted to step down, and she ran for one of the Member-at-Large positions, leaving the VP spot vacant. As we had no candidates to fill that position, we asked our hubs for volunteers. Mark Grasso, of VPS: SouthWest offered his candidacy, and he was elected in an e-mail meeting vote on December 19, 2019.
We still need a Secretary to record the minutes of the two board meetings and one annual membership meeting that occur every year. Please let us know if you want to serve the VPS by being on the board as our Secretary.

Members Gallery
As a reminder, if you want your image changed in the VPS Website Gallery, please use this link.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED PARTICIPATION IN THE VPS!
We are who we are from the devoted support that you all give to our organization. Keep it coming, as you keep on mark-making in pastel!

Matt Peake
VPS President

QUARTERLY QUOTE

“I cringe when someone refers to pastels as chalk but it really grates when people call them crayons, as in ‘I just can’t believe you can do that with crayons!’ Are they referring to those waxy things children use?”

Amanda McLean

Newsletter Topics:

– The leaves are beginning to turn into inspiring autumn reds, oranges, and yellows.

– We have just had two workshops and two exhibitions.

– Regional hubs are very active.

– Our members’ meeting is coming up soon!

Continue reading below for more details.

CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS:

Saturday, October 26, 2019, 1- 3pm: VPS Board Meeting, Sherburne Library, Killington, VT

Sunday, November 10, 2019, 1- 4pm: Annual VPS Members’ Meeting, Sherburne Library, Killington, VT

VPS REGIONAL HUBS UPDATE

Two of our regional hubs continue to meet regularly, with VPS MidState meeting monthly and VPS SouthEast getting together quarterly. Our other hubs (VPS Central, VPS Champlain, VPS SouthWest) are getting together for special activities like paint outs and workshops. VPS UpperValley just met to decide on a new Point Person, Kate Cone. Earlier in the year VPS Champlain chose a new Point Person as well, Lisa Kent. Thank you Kate and Lisa!

VPS EXHIBITIONS

Our Members’ Exhibition (ME) just closed at the TW Wood Gallery in Montpelier, VT. Thanks to the many members who responded to our earlier survey, we added and modified the categories for this year’s awards. We awarded prizes in five genres (landscape, waterscape, still life, figurative, and abstract) and in the elements of composition (color, value, line, shape, and texture). Two new categories were introduced: a Judge’s Choice and a People’s Choice. Our goal for the ME has been to showcase the range of experience and diversity of pastel painting in our VPS, so the awards were meant to reflect that. As such, our hope was that anyone with 5 months to 5 decades of pastel painting experience should feel welcome to submit a painting and have their love of pastels celebrated by viewers and eyed by our judge, Mickey Myers, Executive Director of the Bryan Memorial Gallery. We hung over 40 paintings, the reception was packed with VPS members and town art lovers, and VPS Central rocked with the reception they provided! Look at the website and social media for all the details.

VPS WORKSHOPS

Richard McKinley Workshop, July 29-August 2, 2019. Here’s what a participant said: “The Richard McKinley plein air workshop was the best yet. Seventeen students, many new out-of-state members, enjoyed painting in Central Vermont’s August beauty, benefiting from Richard’s expertise and generosity with his time and knowledge. We bonded well and started a Facebook workshop members’ page, where we post images of our work and solicit critiques.”

Workshop on September 21-23, 2019, with Jacob Aguiar, as reviewed by attendees, “was quite a success both financially and as a learning experience.  It seemed everyone was pleased with Jacob’s workshop and the weather was beautiful so we had the opportunity, if we wanted, to do plein air.”

BOARD NEWS

We will be having our fall meeting on Saturday, October 26, 2019, from 1-3pm in the Sherburne Library in Killington, VT, which is about 1-1.5 hours from all corners of the state. In addition to reviewing upcoming exhibitions and workshops, we will be planning the Annual Members’ Meeting.

As a reminder, if you want your image changed in the VPS Website Gallery, please use this link: https://vermontpastelsociety.com/policies-procedures/.

ANNUAL VPS MEMBERS’ MEETING

On Sunday, November 10, 2019, from 1-4pm in the Sherburne Library in Killington, VT we will have our Annual VPS Members’ Meeting. The format will include a business portion from1- 2:30 pm to elect five new board members, as well as deal with other items. This will be followed by an interactive presentation by VPS members on abstract pastel painting and the many benefits that painting abstractly can have on your ongoing pastel painting. This promises to be great, so mark your calendars today and save the date!!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED PARTICIPATION IN THE VPS!

We are who we are from the indefatigable support that you all give to our organization. Keep it coming, as you keep on pastel-painting!

Matt Peake, VPS President

QUARTERLY QUOTE
“I enjoy painting, but the most fun for me is thinking about what I want to do. Mostly it’s fiddling with an array of objects until they form a pleasing composition. I usually let out an audible ‘wow’ when I get to the place I want to be.”
Brennie Brackett

It’s summer and the VPS is sizzling;
We have two workshops scheduled, and as far as exhibitions, we have one done and one to come;
Regional hubs are doing lots of things;
And we’re only half way thru the year!

Continue reading below for more details.

CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS:
May 17-July 7, 2019: Juried Show, White River Craft Center, Randolph, VT
July 29-August 2, 2019: Richard McKinley Workshop, 4 Corners School House, East Montpelier, VT
September 2019: Members’ Exhibition, TW Wood Gallery, Montpelier, VT
September 21-23, 2019: Jacob Aguiar Workshop, Taraden, 183 Park Street, North Bennington, VT

VPS REGIONAL HUBS UPDATE
Our regional hubs continue to meet regularly, with VPS:SouthEast, VPS:MidState, VPS:Champlain, and VPS: SouthWest being the most active ones, at least as far as being reported through Hub Happenings. If other hubs are doing things, please let Judy Albright know so she can share your activities on Hub Happenings with the whole membership. Ideas and opportunities your hub finds interesting offer options to other hubs as well!

Remember that one of the responsibilities given to hubs is to help with exhibitions when the venue of the Juried Show or Members’ Exhibition is closest to their hub’s central city or cities. Just to remind everyone, they are:

Burlington/St Albans for VPS: Champlain,
Montpelier for VPS: Central,
White River Junction for VPS: Upper Valley,
Brattleboro for VPS: SouthEast,
Middlebury/Rutland for VPS: MidState, and
Bennington/Manchester for VPS: SouthWest

Those duties include receiving the pastels for the show, hanging the show, hosting the reception, providing images of the reception for social media, and being present at take down for artists picking up paintings. The Point Person for the hub will be informed a couple months ahead of time that your hub will be hosting the show. As a hub member, even though you do not happen to have a painting in the show, it is still part of your hub’s job to help with the show, so please make yourself available to your hub’s Point Person for any or all of the tasks asked of you.

VPS EXHIBITIONS
Our Juried Show will hang until Sunday, July 7 at the White River Craft Center, in Randolph, VT. We used an on-line submission platform, Online Juried Shows (OJS), for our Juried Show this year to eliminate some of the many hours of work it takes to put on such a show. Our jurors, Jacob Aguiar and Christine Ivers viewed over 90 paintings and had to narrow their selection down to 25 works to hang in the intimate exhibition space. Special thanks go out to Laura Winn Kane for coming on board as Exhibitions Co-Chair with Susannah Colby to help make this year’s Juried Show a reality. And a hearty thank you should be given to Katrina Thorstensen for organizing the reception for VPS: Upper Valley! It was a very festive, well-attended event, with a colorful and humorous judge, David Frances, picking out the 5 prize-winners from the twenty five excellent and deserving paintings.

Our Members’ Exhibition (ME) is coming soon, during the month of September, at the TW Wood Gallery in Montpelier, VT. Thanks to the many members who responded to our survey, we have added and modified the categories for this year’s awards. Our goal for the ME has been to showcase the range of experience and diversity of pastel painting in our VPS, so the awards are meant to reflect that. As such, anyone with 5 months to 5 decades of pastel painting experience should feel welcome to submit a painting or two (depending on space) and have their love of pastels celebrated by viewers and eyed by our judge, Mickey Myers, Executive Director of the Bryan Memorial Gallery. So stay alert for all the details in an upcoming email. And speaking of hubs, please note that VPS: Central will be the host hub for the 2019 ME!

VPS WORKSHOPS
The Richard McKinley Workshop, July 29-August 2, 2019 has three (3) openings. Any one interested in learning from this excellent teacher, can email Joyce Kahn at tallitot@gmail.com

The workshop for September 21-23, 2019, with Jacob Aguiar at Taraden, 183 Park Street, North Bennington, VT, is full, but new names can be added to a waiting list should current registrants need to drop out. Contact Linda Masten at lindamarymasten@gmail.com

BOARD NEWS
As a reminder, if you want your image changed in the VPS Website Gallery, please use this link: http: https://vermontpastelsociety.com/policies-procedures/.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED PARTICIPATION IN THE VPS!
We are who we are from the effort, energy, and enthusiasm that you all give to our organization. Keep it coming, as you keep on pastel-painting!

Matt Peake, VPS President

QUARTERLY QUOTE
Even in certain kinds of impressionism, one can more or less imply perspective, but when you paint realistically, perspective has to be perfect.
Daniel E. Greene

Spring is here and the VPS has, and not so quietly, been springing to life;

We have two workshops scheduled and one exhibition almost ready to hang;
Regional hubs are continuing to thrive;
And, as has been said before, it can only get better!
Continue reading below for more details.

CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS:
May 17-July 6, 2019: Juried Show, White River Craft Center,
Randolph, VT
July 29-August 2, 2019: Richard McKinley Workshop, 4
Corners School House, East Montpelier, VT
September 2019: Members’ Exhibition, TWWood Gallery,
Montpelier, VT
September 21,22 and 23, 2019: Jacob Aguiar Workshop,
Taraden, 183 Park Street, North Bennington, VT

VPS REGIONAL HUBS UPDATE
Our regional hubs continue to meet regularly, with VPS:SouthEast, VPS:MidState, and VPS:Champlain being the most active ones, at least as far as being reported through Hub Happenings. If other hubs are doing things, please let Judy Albright know so she can share your activities on Hub Happenings with the whole membership. Ideas and
opportunities your hub finds interesting offer options to other hubs as well!

Remember that VPS now has allocated money for hubs to use ($100 promised to each hub, with an additional $5 per member) for hubs to get speakers, attend museums, purchase materials needed, etc., to broaden the range of activities they participate in. Procedures to follow to get reimbursed have been given to the hub point people. So let us know what you are doing with the money!

VPS EXHIBTIONS
Our Juried Show is scheduled for hanging on May 11, 2019  at the White River Craft Center, Randolph, VT. We used an on-line submission platform, Online Juried Shows (OJS), for our Juried Show this year to eliminate some of the many hours of work it takes to put on such a show. As of midnight, March 31, the deadline for entries, VPS artists have submitted over 70 entries. The jurors go to work from April 1-7, choosing the best 20-25 paintings submitted. Special thanks to Laura Winn Kane for coming on board as Exhibitions Co-Chair with Susannah Colby to help make this year’s Juried Show a reality. And more thanks—in advance—to VPS: Upper Valley for hosting the
2019 VPS Juried Show!

VPS WORKSHOPS
The Richard McKinley Workshop, July 29- August 2, 2019 is now full, with18 participants and three on the waiting list. 
Thank you to Joyce Kahn for successfully promoting and filling this workshop!

The workshop for September 21-23, 2019, with Jacob Aguiar, is also full, but new names can be put on a waiting list should current registrants need to drop out. Anyone who signed up by March 31 got into the workshop and will be getting an email
soon with payment details. Please note that the workshop has been changed to a new location, Taraden, 183 Park Street, North Bennington, VT.

Thanks to Linda Masten or Shelli DuBoff for their stewardship in securing a great instructor and in making this workshop happen for the VPS.

BOARD NEWS
Board members are working, as we go to press, on the VPS Workshop Scholarship program that was approved by the board and membership last year. Please check the VPS website for details!

As a reminder, if you want your image changed in the VPS Website Gallery, please use this link: https://vermontpastelsociety.com/policies-procedures/ .

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED PARTICIPATION IN THE VPS!
We are who we are from the line, shape, color and texture that you all give to our organization. Keep it coming, as you keep on art-making!

Matt Peake VPS President